Making the kids play violin, of being an A student, all the discipline, all of this? Why is she working her kids so hard? You know the answer: college.She is raising future college students.
I would say to all of those who are encouraging their kids to play violin merely for college application ammunition: People are only in college for 5 years. Much better to raise your children to be good people.
Would you rather raise your kid to have an active lifelong connection to unconscious being, art, and the eternal, or would you rather raise them so that they can put away their violin and have something to mention in passing at cocktail parties for the rest of their lives?
This choice of short term/long term focus applies to many aspects of education. It is the difference between merely raising a high status, suitably socialized drone versus a human being of substance.
As to which Amy Chua has chosen, only she can know. Having listened to her on interviews, I would say she claims the latter. I suspect that many who try to emulate such true success are unknowlingly choosing the former.
Many startups make the same choice!